For future reference, it makes answering questions a whole lot easier if you include what version of PowerPoint you are using.

Create a new folder on your computer. Move your PowerPoint file (the project you are working on) into that folder. Also put all the songs you will use in that folder (either move them into it or copy/paste them into it). The songs need to be .mp3, .wav, or .wma format.

Go to the first slide you want a song on. If you are using PowerPoint XP/2003, go to the Insert pulldown menu –> Movies and Sounds –> Sound From File –> browse for the song and hit OK. On PowerPoint 2007 go to the Insert tab –> Sound –> Sound From File –> browse for song –> OK.

In either version, click if you want the song to play automatically or not (I’m guessing you do – you can also change that later).

PowerPoint XP/2003 – right click on the sound icon and choose Custom Animations, 2007 – go to the Animations tab and click on Custom Animations near the left side. For both, this launches the animation palette and it is the same from here.

You should see your song listed in the palette. Double click on it. In the Effect tab, under Stop Playing –> After XX Slides, select or type in the number of slides you want the first song to play for. Let’s say it is 3 slides. While you are at it, click ON Hide While Not Playing so the little icon won’t show when you are in slide show.

So, song 1 goes for 3 slides. Go to slide 4 and repeat the process with song 2, etc.

When you bring your presentation to school, copy the ENTIRE folder onto your thumbdrive or CD or whatever. The songs will not be embedded, they will be linked, so in order to hear them at school, you need to have them. Copy the entire folder onto the school’s computer, and you should have no problem with the songs running. Worse case scenario – you need to reinsert them, but that really shouldn’t happen.

Ask: I mean like blending it into the background. To not make the lines so noticeable.

Best answer:

If you are using Powerpoint2007, you can insert a picture and then you will promoted to set the format of the picture. Choose Picture style–Soft Edge Rectangle. You will get the effect you want.
But if you are using Powerpoint 2003, you I am afraid you have to use graphic software to edit it before insering it into powerpoint.

There are many reasons why your movie file may not play. Below are some things to check. Before trying these, you may want to verify that your movie file is on the list of PowerPoint compatible file formats.

You sent your presentation through e-mail, and your recipient says the movies don’t play. Movies files are always linked and are not part of your presentation. Copy the movie files into the same folder as the presentation. Then use the Package for CD feature to update the links and bundle the associated files. Or you can update the links manually. To do this, copy the movie files into the folder that contains the presentation, and then delete the movies and add them back.

You shared your presentation or copied it to a network file server, and the movies don’t play now. Movie files are always linkedand are not part of your presentation. Move or copy the movie files to the same folder as the presentation or to the network file server. Then use the Package for CD feature to update the links and bundle the associated files. Or you can update the links manually. To do this, copy the movie files into the folder that contains the presentation, and then delete the movies and add them back.

You copied your presentation to a CD, and now the movie doesn’t play on a different computer. Copy the movie files to the same folder as the presentation. Then use the Package for CD feature to update the links to the movie files, and copy the presentation again to the CD.

You moved your movie files to a new location, and now when you run your presentation, the movie doesn’t play. Movies files are always linkedand are not part of your presentation. Copy the movie files to the same folder as the presentation. Then use the Package for CD feature to update the links and bundle the associated files. Or you can update the links manually. To do this, copy the movie files into the folder that contains the presentation, and then delete the movies and add them back.

You cannot find and play your movie file. If the path name of the linked movie file exceeds 128 characters, Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 cannot find and play it. Move or copy the movie file into the same folder as the presentation, and then delete the movie and add it back to update the link (path information).

You inserted multiple movies or sounds, but only the top movie or sound is playing. Drag the movie icons or sound icons off each other and then try to play them.

The movie file format is not supported in Office PowerPoint 2007. Try playing the movie outside of Office PowerPoint 2007 by using Microsoft Windows Media Player, which is part of Microsoft Windows. Start Windows Media Player and then use the File menu (you might have to maximize the window to see the File menu) to open and play your movie file in Windows Media Player. If the movie doesn’t play, Windows Media Player gives you detailed error messages and a Help link that can help you troubleshoot the problem.If the movie plays in Windows Media Player, you can insert it as a media clip in your presentation by doing the following:

On the Insert tab, in the Text group, click Object.

In the Object type list, click Create from file, and then enter the name of the movie file or click Browse.

Note A movie that you play in Office PowerPoint 2007 by using Windows Media Player cannot have animation settings and special timings assigned to it. Instead, you play it by clicking buttons in Windows Media Player.

If Office PowerPoint 2007 won’t play your movie file either in Office PowerPoint 2007 or in Windows Media Player, try creating a hyperlink or action buttonon your slide and linking to a program that can play the movie file.

Your movie file is listed as being compatible with PowerPoint, but your movie still doesn’t play correctly. Although your movie file may have the same file extension as one listed as being compatible, it may not play correctly if the correct version of the codec is not installed, or if the file has not been encoded in a format recognized by your version of Microsoft Windows. Encoding is the process of converting data into a stream of ones and zeros. Install the correct codec or re-encode the file.

Your movie is captioned or subtitled. Office PowerPoint 2007 cannot play captioned or subtitled movies. To resolve the issue, try creating a hyperlink to the movie.

Your movie plays as a white rectangle. The path name to the linked movie file exceeds 128 characters, and Office PowerPoint 2007 cannot find and play the movie. Move or copy the movie file into the same folder as the presentation, and then delete the movie and add it back to update the link (path information).

Your movie plays as a black rectangle. This often indicates incompatible hardware acceleration. Try turning down your Hardware Acceleration setting, which is found in Control Panel.If you are using dual monitors (sometimes called multiple monitors), make sure both monitors are set to the same screen resolution in Control Panel, or try to set both monitors to a lower screen resolution.

Instead of playing a movie as part of a slide in your presentation, you can play it so that it fills the entire screen. This is called playing a movie full screen. Depending on the resolution of your original movie file, the movie might appear distorted when played full screen. For this reason, it is always a good idea to preview your movie, so that if the movie appears distorted or blurry, you can undo the full screen option.

If you set the movie to play full screen and it is also set to start automatically, you can drag the movie frame off the slide so it will not be visible on the slide, nor will it flash briefly before the movie goes to full screen.

Important If you drag the movie frame off the slide or hide the movie frame, you must set the movie to play automatically or by some other kind of control, such as a trigger. A trigger is something on a slide, such as a picture, shape, button, paragraph of text, or text box, that initiates an action when you click it.

Set a movie to play full screen

In Normal view, click the movie that you want to play full screen.

Under Movie Tools, on the Options tab, in the Movie Options group, click Play Full Screen.

Preview a movie

To preview a movie, in Normal view, do one of the following:

Double-click the movie.

Click the movie, and then under Movie Tools, on the Options tab, in the Play group, click Preview.

Click the slide with the movie, and then click Slide Show at the bottom of the Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 window, or press F5. If you set the movie to play when you click it, click the movie frame.

Do you find it annoying when you press an Enter then automatically, a bullet or a number appears in front of the next line. But actually you don’t need it at all. Or sometimes, you want to get it work to save your time. Here is a the tip for you.

By default, if you type an asterisk or a number 1., Word recognizes that you are trying to start a bulleted or numbered list. You can turn off the automatic list recognition feature.

Note If you turn the feature off and create your list manually, you can’t select and change the list all at once. For example, you can’t select the list and change the color of all of the numbers at one time.

Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Word Options.

Click Proofing.

Click AutoCorrect Options, and then click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.

Under Apply as you type, select or clear the Automatic bulleted lists check box or the Automatic numbered lists check box.

Now we all going to talk about how to change or delete a placeholder in Powerpoint 2007. Follow this procedure bellow.

Change a placeholder

On the View tab, in the Presentation Views group, click Slide Master.

On the layout, click the placeholder that you want to change, and then do any of the following:

To resize it, point to one of its sizing handles, and when the pointer becomes a two-headed arrow, drag the handle.

To reposition it, point to one of its borders, and when the pointer becomes a four-headed arrow, drag the placeholder to a new position.

To change the font, size, case, color, or spacing for text within it, select the text, and then on the Home tab, in the Font group, click the options that you want.

To group objects such as pictures, shapes, clip art, and charts, select the first object that you want to place in a group, press CTRL, and then click on the other objects that you want to group together. Under Drawing Tools, on the Format tab, in the Arrange group, click Format, and then click Group twice. Notes

You can group objects in object placeholders, but not text box placeholders. However, you can add a Text box shape and group that with other objects. To do this, on the Insert tab, in the Shapes group, under Basic Shapes, click Text Box.

To ungroup the objects, select the grouped objects, under Drawing Tools, on the Format tab, click Group, and then click Ungroup.

On the Slide Master tab, in the Close group, click Close Master View.

For the placeholder changes to be final, you must reapply the slide layout to the slides that follow the changed slide layout. To reapply the slide layout, in the list of slide thumbnails, click the slide that adheres to the layout that you just changed.

On the Home tab, in the Slides group, click Layout, and then click the layout that contains the placeholders that you just changed.

Delete a placeholder

On the View tab, in the Presentation Views group, click Slide Master.

Click the border of the placeholder that you want to delete, and then press DELETE.

On the Slide Master tab, in the Close group, click Close Master View. Note To remove the placeholder from the slide completely, you must reapply the slide layout to the slide.

For the placeholder changes to be final, you must reapply the slide layout to the slide. To reapply the slide layout, in the list of slide thumbnails, click the slide that adheres to the layout that no longer contains the deleted placeholder.

On the Home tab, in the Slides group, click Layout, and then click the layout that no longer contains the deleted placeholder.

In default, Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 contains several built-in themes, which include theme colors, theme fonts, and theme effects. Whether you use an existing built-in theme, create a new theme, or modify an existing built-in theme, follow these steps to apply a theme to your presentation.

On the Design tab, in the Themes group, click More .

Do one of the following:

To apply a built-in theme, under Built-In, click the theme that you want.

To apply a newly-created theme or an existing theme that you modified and saved, under Custom, click the theme that you want.

To apply a custom theme or themed document stored in a different location, click Browse for Themes, and then locate and select the theme you want.

To view a larger selection of themes on Office Online, click More Themes on Microsoft Office Online.

That’s all for this procedure, hopefully you’ve fully understood. Any comment, feel free to make it below.

What is placeholder? Placeholder is box with dotted borders that contain content and reside within a slide layout. All built-in slide layouts contain content placeholders.

To illustrate placeholder better for you to understand, I will show you an example of placeholder. It is an example of a built-in slide layout that contains a title text placeholder, two subtitle text placeholders, and two placeholders to which you can add body text, a table, chart, SmartArt graphic, picture, clip art, or a movie or sound clip.

You can add placeholders to non-standard areas of a blank slide layout and add custom prompt text to prompt your users to enter a certain type of content.

Notice : If you apply a layout to one or more slides in your presentation, and then go back and edit that layout by adding a placeholder, custom prompt text, or some other layout-altering action, you must reapply the layout to the slides so that the slides adhere to the updated layout. Follow these steps:

On the View tab, in the Presentation Views group, click Slide Master.

In the pane that contains the slide masters and layouts, click the layout that you want to add one or more placeholders to.

On the Slide Master tab, in the Master Layout group, click Insert Placeholder, and then click the type of placeholder that you want.

Click a location on the layout, and then drag to draw the placeholder.

To add more placeholders to a layout, repeat steps 2 through 4.

Note When you add placeholders to a layout, if the content in those placeholders changes the layout’s purpose, you may also want to rename the layout. To do so, right-click the slide layout thumbnail, click Rename Layout, type a new name, and then click Rename.

On the Slide Master tab, in the Close group, click Close Master View to return to Normal view.

In the slide thumbnail list, select the slide that you want to re-apply the layout with the newly-added placeholders to.

On the Home tab, in the Slides group, click Layout, and then click the revised layout.

MS Powerpoint do not provide us with sufficient layouts, therefore somtimes, you need to create you own layout that perfectly suits your slide content.Some people may ask how. Okay, follow this tutorial closely, and I guarantee you will find your answer.

In Slide Master view, locate the ‘Blank Layout’ in the thumbnail list of layouts below the slide master. In this veiw, you can customize that layout by adding text-specific and object-specific placeholders as you wish.

On the View tab, in the Presentation Views group, click Slide Master.

In the pane that contains the slide masters and layouts, locate and click the Blank Layout in the list of thumbnail layouts below the slide master.

To modify the layout, do one or more of the following:

To remove unwanted, default placeholders such as headers, footers, or the date and time, click the border of the placeholder, and then press DELETE.

To add a placeholder, do the following:

On the Slide Master tab, in the Master Layout group, click Insert Placeholder, and then select a placeholder type from the list.

Click a location on the layout, and then drag to draw the placeholder. Tip To resize a placeholder, drag one of its corner borders.

In the thumbnail list of layouts, right-click the Blank Layout and then click Rename Layout.

In the Rename Layout dialog box, type a new name that describes the new layout you’ve just customized, and then click Rename.

Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Save As.

In the File name box, type a file name, or do nothing to accept the suggested file name.

In the Save as type list, click PowerPoint Template, and then click Save.

Note The layout that you added and customized now appears in the list of standard, built-in layouts in Normal view, located on the Home tab, in the Slides group.